New chapter on Second Life....just out

The Affordances of Second Life for Education


DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-822-3.ch007 ISBN13: 9781616928223
ISBN10: 1616928220
EISBN13: 9781616928230
Author(s): Craig A. Cunningham (National-Louis University, USA); Kimball Harrison (Virginia Beach City Public Schools, USA)
Pages: 94-119 pp.
Source Title: Teaching through Multi-User Virtual Environments: Applying Dynamic Elements to the Modern Classroom
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Giovanni Vincenti (Towson University, USA); James Braman (Towson University, USA)
Copyright: 2011
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Abstract
In this chapter, the authors discuss some of the possibilities of Second Life for education from both theoretical and practical standpoints. First, they outline a general theory of meaningful learning using technology that can be applied to Second Life as well as other technologies. Then, the authors discuss some of the particular aspects of Second Life that might support meaningful learning. Next, the authors outline some of the practical realities, or obstacles, that exist to using it in the environment. Finally, they make some recommendations about how educators who are interested in exploring the possibilities of Second Life might proceed. While the chapter focuses its discussion on Second Life, the theoretical framework and even many of the examples apply to any virtual world that allows users to build persistent objects and utilize scripts.